USA > Illinois > Iroquois County > Past and present of Iroquois County, Illinois > Part 24
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Samuel L. Slan was reared ichvago Heights early age of a Mon wars he began having Fratt horses for the market and in that capacity was it the en plo of one man for six years Three gout his entire life he has been engaged in stock deal- ing and for sixteen years he has operated the Harley farm of one hundred and sixty acres in connection with his stock buying. In toph, he langhe and shipped to Kohn Brothers, of News York, eight draft horses averaging in weight fourteen hundred and fifty pounds and which brought two thousand twenty-five dollars Mr. Sloan is wel known throughout the county in his excellent judgment of good animals and as a stock dealer has made names for himself and others.
On the 25th of November, 18, occurred the marriage of Samtel I. Shar and Mrs Va Dazes, a tative of lage's courts and a dangh
Inhed in Miliard township Un Mr and Mrs San have been for three cluster. Homer. I'm ter andl Alta, a i wierare atter dufg sobre
The parents and fully attend the serv ces ni the Methodlist I pricipal church at Styckland Mr Skon is a stalwart republican and has fille ! the offices of school director and truste ir ses etal vor. while at the present writing he is sert toreally he is connected with the Foresters of Ml ir. The occupation to which he was rearel he has made his hit work and his persistentes flowing comme Une of business is malgift of
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a strong element in his success. He early learned to know the good points of horses and his judg- ment is rarely, if ever, at fault in this particular, so that in the purchase and sale of stock he has conducted a good business.
WILSON S. KAY.
Wilson S. Kay, who for many years was one of the distinguished and able lawyers of central Illinois and at the time of his death was the oldest member of the Iroquois county bar, pos- sessed in large measure the qualities that com- mand honor and respect and that win success. In all of life's relations, whether as educator, lawyer, political leader or friend. he displayed sterling traits of character that supplemented strong intellectual force and marked ability. He was the associate and friend of many of the distinguished sons of Illinois, who regarded him in every way as a peer.
A native of Indiana, Wilson S. Kay was born near Greencastle, in Putnam county, on the 3Ist of October, 1831, and was a son of William D. and Ruth ( Wright ) Kay, the former a native of Maryland, while the latter was born near what is now known as Little Mills. in West Virginia. The father removed with his parents from Mary- land to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and. being left an orphan when only six or seven years of age. he was apprenticed to the glass-blower's trade. which he followed for some time after complet- ing his term of indenture. Subsequently he be- came a resident of West Virginia. in which state he was married and later he lived at dif- ferent times in West Virginia and Ohio, remov- ing eventually to Terre Haute, Indiana, and afterward to a farm near Greencastle, in Put- nam county, that state. When a few months had passed. however, he returned to Virginia and soon afterward went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he conducted business as a furrier. At a later date the family took up their abode upon a farm in Clermont county. Ohio, where they lived until 1837, when William D. Kay sold his prop- erty and at the solicitation of a friend invested his money in a steam-mill outfit, which he in- tended to operate in Illinois. Upon his arrival
in this state, however, he found conditions so entirely different from what had been represented that he took his engine no further than Perrys- ville on the Wabash river, a place about four- teen miles east of Danville. The following sea- son he set about erecting a sawmill on the east side of the Wabash and two and a half miles below Perrysville. When he had nearly com- pleted it he became ill with what was termed milk sickness and passed away. His widow with her children later removed to Iroquois coun- ty, Illinois, where her father. Jonathan Wright. lived. No portion of her husband's estate ever reached the widow or any of the children. When about seventeen years of age Wilson S. Kay began an investigation concerning his father's affairs by going to Covington, Indiana. where the estate was settled and there he found that
the administrators had caused the whole of the estate, eighty acres of excellent timber land with plenty of coal on it together with the steam saw- mill. to be sold. It was then bought in by the administrators for the sum of eleven dollars. About 1845 Mrs. Kay married again, becoming the wife of Isaac Courtright, a prominent pio- neer settler of Iroquois county. Her death oc- curred in Texas, a small town in Middleport township, in July, 1854. She died of cholera and her husband died of the same disease the following day.
Wilson S. Kay was a little lad of seven years when with his widowed mother and his brothers and sisters he returned to Iroquois county in the summer of 1838. He and one of his sisters, who were the two oldest members of the family, found homes with strangers, Wilson S. Kay living with Samuel Harper near Onarga for a few months, after which he spent four years with Thomas Vennum, Sr .. near Milford-on-the-Mound. At intervals as opportunity offered he attended the district schools and later had the benefit of a year's instruction in the Milford school. He was fourteen years of age when he went to the home of his sister near Milford, there working for his board and the opportunity of continuing his edu- cation. He displayed special aptitude in his studies and. using his advantages in the best pos- sible way, thus became equipped for the profes- sion of teaching, which he followed at Bunkum for a year. The money thus carned enabled him
WILSON S. KAY.
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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IROQUOIS COUNTY ILLINOIS
in Ogle counts. Ilmess, and latter he again el Hagel in teaching for a few years the bang followed by a course of study in Asbury Low De Panne Diversity, of Greencastle, Indiana. He was endowed Is nature with strong mentality and he developed his latent powers through close application while in school and by broad reading and investigation in Ins lessure hours
Un the 18th of July, 1852. Mr. hay was mar- rice m Frompois county to Miss Susannah ( richi- field, who died in September, 1855, and they be came the parents of a som. Wilham, who died in mianes. On the 6th of March, tố58, Mr. hay welded Miss Livonia M. Burlingame, of Omar ga. Illinois, a daughter of Aber and Livonia (Turner) Burlingame. She was born in New Berlin, Chenango county, New York, and in 1855 came with her widowed mother, two sisters and a brother to Ilmon. The second marriage was blessed with five children. Wilham Almer, who was born April 2. 1800, died at the age of right- con months. Mcclellan, who was born fletober 18. 1801. for many years practiced low with his father. He was educated in the Watseka public school, the Unarga Seminary. Michigan State University and the Northwestern University of Evanston, Illinois, and was admitted to the bar in 1884. when he entered into partnership with his father and Judge Evans, the firm later In - coming Kay & Kay, He married Ella Martin, of Watscha. Wilson S. born December 10. 1803. dieal May 21. 1872. Livonia Ruth, born October 2. 187, was graduated from the North- western University at Ivasted in thept and roll out and exemples the beautiful has honksund on Her. Walnut street in Waterki. Domall Burlingame, born June 12. 1871. diel m och ber Li thế saine vear
When first married Mr hay lived in a calen near Bankum and taught school in that s'lage Subsequently he removed to Middleport, then the county stat, and in the he made his home about midway between the old and new town, New Watseka Ambitious to enter other professional life, he took up the study of law in Medleport under the direction of James Fletcher and In 1857 was adnetted to the bar, after winch he entered upon active practice m Watseka. From that time until his death he remainel in active
is bar. In fact das thorough wieder tam ing of the principles of jurisprudence, his correct af - pheation of las legal knowledge to the points at issue. his strength targ m 11 all is a deletions made in the pier of nato a tie ablest numbers of the profession in Whole contemporary biographer sed of him "He puis sessed certain elements of disposter withet which success in the legal profession is hardly attainable industry, energy, almus, tut and last, last meat least, com bussene and true color age. He trusted nothing to chance that his sa garsty deented necessary to his case when care and work would insure success: consegments won the reputation of being a conservative and safe man to entrust with Important cases and his success in court fully justified the general popular opinion of hun."
Mr. hay's prominence was not listed alone to the profession in which he gamed a position of marked distinction, for he became a recognized leader in other walks of hie He was a number of the state central committee of the national democratic party and supported Palmer and Buckner during the campaign of them. He was one of the three judges of the court of clans appointed by Governor Ffer in 18%). He was long recognized as die of the leading representa tives of democracy in Its portion of the state and his opinions were frequently decine isters in the council of the party In Masimis Iu attained the Knight Templar degree, belonging
Wat ka chapter. V. 11. K. A. M : el Ivan hoe commander b. I. . i Kankakee, while later is mengderslep was transferred to Mars commanders af Watchit He was also com nected with the Order of the Eastern Star and with the Odl lebows and at the time of his de That he displayed business adults askle is an h . profession is medicated by his friends Invest ment in property and he became the owner of over five hundred acres of farming land, abent inur hundred acres of which was adjacent to Watscha on the southwest, while thirty acres Un mstle the corporation hnots. Mr. Ka at all times displayed sound judgment, whether
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ters relating to his profession or to public or private interests. He stood for progressive and public-spirited citizenship and was the opponent of misrule in all municipal or state affairs. He had high ideals of right and wrong and his life exemplified his principles. Moreover the strong traits of his character were manifest in the way in which he faced the hardships and privations of his earlier years and molded opportunity to his own ends, gradually working his way upward until he occupied a prominent position among the sucessful residents of Iroquois county, com- manding at the same time the respect and honor of the people of intellectual force, who regarded him as an equal, while from the great mass of humanity he received the deference which is al- ways accorded true worth.
DANIEL M. MARQUIS.
Daniel M. Marquis is one of the old-time resi- dents of Iroquois county, and is successfully con- ducting a brick and tile factory at Milford. He also manufactures cement blocks for building purposes and there is large demand for these. His energies are directed along well defined lines of labor leading to success and the years have brought him a gratifying measure of prosperity.
Born in Logan county, Ohio, February 14. 1836. Mr. Marquis is a son of Samuel Marquis. a native of Virginia. The father accompanied his parents on their removal to Knox county, Ohio. where he followed farming, and in that county he married Lucinda Axtel, a native of Washing- ton county, Pennsylvania. Subsequently he car- ried on general agricultural pursuits in Knox county for two years and then removed to Logan county, where he spent his remaining days, pass- ing away on the 12th of April, 1865. when fifty- six years of age. His wife died in 1884. at the age of eighty-two years.
Daniel M. Marquis was one of a family of nine chiklren, eight of whom reached years of matu- rity. He was reared upon the home farm, and when a young man followed carpentering for ten years. He was early trained to habits of indns- try and economy and the lessons which he thus learned in youth have been of much practical
value to him in his business life. In 1858 he made a trip westward to ()maha. Nebraska, trav- eling part of the way by stage, and for three years he followed carpentering there. Returning to Ohio, he was married on the Ioth day of Septem- ber. 1862. to Miss Sarah B. Downs, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Jesse Downs, who was born in New Hampshire and became an early resident of Logan county, Ohio. Soon after his marriage Mr. Marquis removed westward to Illi- nois and purchased sixty acres of prairie land in Iroquois county. He there built a house, which he improved and he bought more land from time to time until he had become the owner of two hundred and five acres, constituting a valuable property in Milford township, owing to the care and labor which he had bestowed upon the fields and which brought them under a high state of cultivation.
Mr. Marquis lost his first wife in 1881, and on the Ioth of September. 1884. he was again mar- ried, his second union being with Mary Louisa Strain, a native of this county and a daughter of David Strain, one of the old settlers of Iroquois county. He was a native of Washington county. Pennsylvania, born in 1818, and there he grew to manhood. In 1834 he came to Illinois and estab- lished his home in Iroquois county, where he fol- lowed the occupation of farming. In 1840 he was married here to Miss Sarah Haney, whose birth occurred in Washington county, Indiana, in 1823. She is now in her eighty-fourth year and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Marquis. Her husband died January 12, 1866, at the age of forty-seven years, after which she carefully reared their family of eight children, all of whom reached years of maturity. Mrs. Marquis is the eldest of this family of two sons and six daugh- ters. She has one sister in this county-Mrs. Frank Endsley, of Milford.
Mr. Marquis continued to engage actively in farming until 1884. when he sold his land and turned his attention to industrial pursuits, pur- chasing a brick plant, which in 1892 he removed to its present location in Milford. He has in- stalled new and improved machinery and is pre- pared to make eighteen-inch tile. When running to the full capacity the output is fifteen thousand brick per day, and from two to four thousand tile daily, while employment is furnished to from
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eight to ten men in the buss season. Mr. Mar- quis is thoroughly conversant with the best meth- ods of producing these products, keeping in touch with the improvement. that have been made through invention and experiment and he finds an excellent sale for his output. He also manu- factures cement blocks for building purposes and this part of his business is growing rapidly.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Marquis is a Ma- số1, belonging to the lodge at Milford, and his wife is connected with the Eastern Star. She is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is a lady of many good qualities. Mr. Mar- aus votes with the democracy on national que- tions He has never sought or cared for public office, serving at one time as road commissioner for two terms but otherwise holding no positions of political preferment. He belongs, however, 10 that class of representative American citizens who, while advancing individual interests con- tribute also to the public welfare. He has now reached the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten and his has been an active life characterized by stalwart purpose. by fidelity to principle and by honor in all his relations with his fellow men. He is a genial and courteous gen- tleman and his position in public regard is one of prominence.
HIERAMI H. HOTALING.
Hiram HI. Hotaling is a retired farmer residing in Crescent City and his intense and well directed activity in former years constituted the basis of a success that now enables him to live comfort ably without recourse to further labor. .A na- tive of New York, he was born in Onondaga county, September 22. 1856, and is a son of Gar- rett H. and Harriet ( Wallace ) Hotaling. The father was a miller in Baldwinsville, New York. but both he and his wife are now deceased, the latter having departed this life when their son Hiram was only eleven years of age. The father long survived and passed away in January, 1905. Hiram H. Hotaling was educated in the common schools of New York, in the high school of Sara cuse and in Baldwinsville Academy and thus was Well equipped by liberal intellectual training and
culture for the responsible and practical lytes if hic. In 1820, when twenty years of age he came to the west, Irving ni Chicago for one win- ter. after which, in the spring of 1877, he went to Colorado A few months later however, he re- turned to Cheago and in July, 1877. cane to Fromqueens courts, establishing his home spel a farm in Danforth township near Chas. Hs first purchase of land in this caulty comprised in 1881. At a later date he sold that and bought three hundred and eight acres, also in Danforth township, which he still owns. He improved all of Ins land, tiled it and converted n into rich and productive fields, raving the cereals best adapted to soil and climate. He also raised. Iought, ied and shipped stock. In fact, his farm is largely devoted to live-stock interests and he became well known in the county as a leading stockman.
Mr. Hotaling was married in 18% to Miss Frances E. Hallam, a daughter of Due S. Hal- lam, a pioneer settler of Iroquois county and a well known character in an early day. He came to Illinois from Washington, Pennsylvania, and in the Keystone state was a chun to Major Har- rington, of Watseka. He was a great lover of dogs and horses and was a typical pioneer set- tler, widely known in the county and having the warm friendship of many with whom he came in contact. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hotaling have been born ten children: Harriet, the wife of Charles 1. Lee. of Danforth township : Grace and Garrett H., who are living at home: George E., who is in the livery business at Crescent City : Homer. Albert, Jeanette. Edith and Mabel, all of whom are still under the parental roof . and one child. who died umaned in infancy.
Mr. Hotaling gives his political allegiance to the republican party and is prominent in its In cal ranks, while hisopinions have frequently been decisive factors in its councils. He has served is assessor and supervisor of Danforth and was the only republican supervisor Danforth township has ever lad, the fact of his election indicating his personal popularity and the confidence and trust reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. Small he is connected with Crescent City lodge. V. (s. I. 01. 01. P., also with the Iroquois eneurp ment at Watseka. He is hkewise a member of ilt Modern Wowalen camp at Crescent ( is an)
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he and his wife are connected with the Royal Neighbors there. He has filled all of the chairs in the Odd Fellows lodge and has been president of the Iroquois County Agricultural Society for ten years without drawing any salary for his services. He has discharged the duties of the position with marked capability because of his deep interest in agricultural progress and he has helped to make the fair held by the society one of the best in the state. For twenty years he act- ed as superintendent of the horse department and has done much to stimulate an interest in high grade stock and thus promote the value of live- stock interests in the county. Mr. Hotaling has justly earned the proud American title of a self- made man, as with limited capital he came to the west, dependent practically upon his own re- sources for all that he has achieved and enjoyed in life. His close application to his business, his unremitting diligence and his ability in control- ling agricultural interests have been an ele- ment in a success which is as honorable as it is gratifying.
JAMES F. HARWOOD.
Among the loyal soldiers of the Union that Iroquois county furnished to the government during the darkest hour of the history of the country, James F. Harwood is numbered, and for three years he served as a valiant defender of the stars and stripes, participating in many of the important battles in which that emblem of the Union cause led the troops forward to vic- tory. He is now successfully farming in Iro- quois township. He is a western man by birth, training and perseverance, and the spirit of en- terprise and progress which has been dominant in the upbuilding of this section of the country is manifest in him.
He was born near Cincinnati, Dearborn county, Indiana, March 21, 1834, and was a lad of eight years when he came to Iroquois county, Illinois, in company with his parents. His fa- ther, Frederick Harwood, drove across the coun- try with horses and carriage, arriving in the month of April, 1842. He established his home near Crescent City, trading his horses and the carriage for a farm. He also entered govern-
ment land adjoining the tract which he pur- chased and with characteristic energy he began to clear and cultivate the land, transforming the wild prairie in course of time into rich and pro- ductive fields. When he arrived here there were only three cabins within miles of his place. It seemed that the work of development and civil- ization had scarcely been begun in this part of the state, for much of the land was still un- claimed and was raw or a swamp. He had a farm where the town of Crescent City now stands and died upon that place when sixty-six years of age. Local advancement and national progress were always causes dear to his heart. His wife long survived him and died at the age of seventy-eight years.
James F. Harwood was largely reared amid pi- oneer scenes and environments in Iroquois coun- ty, and his memory bears vividly the impress of many of the early historic annals of this part of the state. He was a student in the common schools and in the summer seasons worked in the fields, thus gaining practical knowledge of the best methods of carrying on the farm. He has always devoted his time and energies to gen- eral agricultural pursuits and in early life worked out as a farm hand for ten dollars per month. Saving his carnings, he at length ac- cumulated capital sufficient to enable him to pur- chase forty acres of land at two dollars and a half per acre. He made this purchase in 1856 and subsequently he bought the farm whereon he now lives at four dollars per acre. All of the buildings upon it have been erected by him and the work of improvement has been carried for- ward until he now has a fine farm property of one hundred and twenty acres. He has sold his other farms and still deals in real estate, adding materially to his income in this way. He is a good business man, sagacious and far-sighted, and through the careful direction of his efforts has met with gratifying success.
In 1862 Mr. Harwood enlisted in the army as a member of Company A. Seventy-sixth Regiment of Illinois Volunteers under Captain Harrington. He served for three years with that command and the nature of his service is in- dicated by the fact that he was a participant in the sanguinary battles of Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi, Blakely, Alabama, and many others.
MR. AND MRS. JAMES F. HARWOOD.
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
IROQUOIS COUNTY, ILLINOIS
Although he was never wounded he frequenth was in the thickest of the fight and at one time frem all state of Hte the hel tene was in the regiment hospital with mesle. He Ofthe rate. get the workshop, received an honorable discharge at latesten. Texas, in 1805, and being sent theme to Chicago. Was mustered out and paid off in that att. after which be returned home In his citizenship he has since ramiested the safe loyalty which he displayed when upon southern battle fields he en months, when he resigned and returned followed the starry banner of the nation
Mr. Harward was married to Miss Faune herbs, of Iroquois county, and they have three children, James, who wedded tiertrade Camp bell and live near his father : l'eter and Helen. With at home Politically Mr. Harwood is a democrat but not an active politician. He be- longs to the Grand Army of the Republic but his time and energies have largely throughout his life been centered upon his farning inter- ests, and his close application and unfaltering energy have made him a successful man.
CAPTAIN ELRAVAL DOOLITTLE
Captain Elkanah Do little, who departed this life in Charge. November 19. 1807, won his title by valores service in the civil war and for many Scars was counted with the representative citi- Tens of Inaguois county. He was born July 10. 1820, 1 New York city, whence his father re- manel to Oneida courts. New York, and later Newark, New Jersey. Captain 1) but! re convol liberal educativa! advantages in the ets' ern metropole and became a civil center In professor. Polowing that pursuit, he was en gaged with railroad survey and construction work between Ogdensburg and Platsburg. New York and : 1851 Be calle west to Illness, making his was to Chicago, where he som entered into le- nes- relations with the lin 's Central Rafread Company as a civil engineer. Establishing his home in Iroquois county. he was elected & the office of county surveyor, which position he de ceptably filled with 1858, when he returned to C'in nection, where his people were they 100g He remained in New England until after the all- break of the Civil war.
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